City Council Meeting October 8, 2014
WHEREAS, Alternative Schools Network (ASN) was founded in 1973 when a group of dedicated education and community leaders combined their resources with the simple goal to create effective and innovative community-operated programs to re-engage, inspire and empower young men and women; and to become a vehicle for resource development, joint programming, and advocacy on behalf of out-of-school youth and low skilled adults; and
WHEREAS, today Alternative Schools Network is a membership-based organization composed of thirty-three not-for-profit, independent and self-governing alternative schools, as well as youth and adult education organizations; and continues to be the largest and oldest formal network of community-based alternative schools in the country; and
WHEREAS, every year in the city of Chicago, thousands of youth between the ages of 16 and 21 find their personal circumstances too insurmountable to overcome and remain in school; and
WHEREAS, Alternative Schools Network believes that every youth is not only entitled to an education, but also the necessary support services to help them succeed at high school graduation, transition into the workforce and society; and
WHEREAS, for forty years Alternative Schools Network has engaged youth through innovative curriculum and programming, more personalized academic attention, tutoring, mentoring, pivotal social-emotional support, after-school and extracurricular activities that open doors to a lifetime of opportunities; and
WHEREAS, Alternative Schools Network, its member programs and organizations, engage more than thirty-five hundred underserved Chicago youth each year in successful educational, employment and supportive services programs; and
WHEREAS, Alternative Schools Network's transformative services have increased marginalized youth graduation rates, decreased youth's exposure to violence and prison, and helped to ensure a strong future workforce by developing skills f...
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